King's Quest V (NES)
thumb|Title Screen King's Quest V was a game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is an official King's Quest V adaptation created for the NES system licensed by Sierra and published by Konami, and developed by Novotrade and Sierra Design. It was released in June 1992 (copyrighted to 1991). Script by Roberta Williams. Background At last a role playing adventure fit for a king...or a corpse, depending on your skill. Dark powers summon a cold wind from the north. The terrifying gust surrounds Sir Graham's castle, and mysteriously sweeps his fortress and family into the prison of oblivion. It's a bitter omen that chills the bones of every man, woman and child in that once peaceful Kingdom of Daventry. Who or what is responsible for this royal theft, and the misery that ravages the heart of Daventry? Has the ruthless wizard Manannan cast another evil spell? Or are the Black Forest Witch and the unforgiving Ice Queen using sinister powers to promote their wicked cause? Only you can answer these questions, as you assume the role of Sir Graham, then set forth on an adventure that will test your intelligence, challenge your skill and rip your courage to shreds. Fortunately, you're not alone. For a wise owl who witnessed the tragedy will accompany you, offering guidance and advice which he receives from a friendly old warlock. Along the way, you'll encounter the dungeon monster, the Yeti monster, the magical genies, and winged Harpies to name a few. You'll also journey over continents laced with crystal caves, forbidden forests, bandit hideouts and treacherous seas filled with mystery. Be sure to question kind strangers for clues, and give assistance to animal allies. Also locate magical items and weapons, or else your mortal strength will be powerless to unlock the secrets leading to your imprisoned home and family. As foretold by ancient warlords, King's Quest V has finally arrived to weed out the weak, and immortalize the brave. The only question now is...which are you? Behind the scenes The game is built upon an original engine (it is not SCI). The box just refers to the game as King's Quest V, but the subtitle appears in the game itself. Differences from the PC version It has original 8-bit artwork, some of the cutscenes were removed, shortened, or altered. For example in the PC version you could reenter Crispin's house after the introductory video, and he would say a few more things; in the NES version he locks the door directly after the cutscene (the extra things he said were adapted into the intro cutscene.) The conversation with the Willow is slightly expanded. She discusses how the gold heart must be returned to a hole in her trunk, where it was taken from her. Having the stick won't trigger the cat chasing the rat. The shoe is required. Even if you miss saving the rat, the scene repeats if you leave and come back to the screen until you solve it. Most of the 'alternate' solutions, or dead end trade solutions (such as buying things with the golden heart, or using the needle or gold coin in the wrong spot) are removed. Sometimes there is new text to show that character will not accept the items. I.E. The tailor will say that the gold coin is not enough to buy the cloak, instead he will only accept the needle. Likewise you cannot use the stick to scare the cat, only the shoe works. Graham automatically opens the pouch and takes the emeralds. There are differences in the script in places (such as different town descriptions and different descriptions for the oases editing out references to 'gods' likely to fit within Nintendo's censorship rules). Sometimes different item descriptions as well. For example the Ice Crystal (this is possibly a reference to the Official Book of King's Quest which also calls it an ice crystal), and the Shepherd's Staff. Another example is that Amanda and Austin never appear in the bake house. The inn only has two men rather than three, and no dog. The bear appears attacking the bee tree even before finding the fish. The name of the Green Isles has been updated in the script to conform to KQ6, it is named the Land of the Green Isles, rather than the Kingdom of the Green Isles. The crystal doesn't shatter after being used to defeat the serpent dragons, and remains in the inventory. Herbert doesn't leave the room, until you talk to him (even if you walk out of the room). He will disappear if you enter the first screen of the Dark Forest and return. A wooden bridge crosses the pond in front of Crispin's house rather than a 'stone bridge'. The man working on the wagon, Tam Baker is behind the wagon rather than the front of it. The location of the shops in the town are a different order than in the PC version. The cobbler in the left building, the tailor is in the middle building, and the toyshop is in the right building. The town descriptions have been changed to reflect this. The bandits, when they kill Graham, say, "Aha! An intruder!," rather than saying Graham is a spy. Some areas, like the desert, are slightly smaller than in the PC version. Some of the location names are modified as well; the inn, for example, became North Inn. Some of the puzzles were slightly modified as well; the PC version had, for example, a different layout for the dungeon maze beneath Mordack's castle, and Dink appeared in one of four rooms. In the NES version, you can shake the tambourine anywhere and he will come, running up before Graham..Dink can still be found by looking for him however. Some of the deaths are modified or removed; the sea creature is a tentacle, and there is no way to fall off the steps on the beach of Mordack's island. There is no crevasse to fall into in the elf's cave. The words, 'death', 'dead' or 'killed' or generally edited out (likely for censoring purposes). The only exception being the 'dead fish'. Icebella orders the wolves to take you to prison for the rest of your life, rather than implied being ripped to shreds as in the original. There is no crevasse at the bottom of the icy slope, where the sled is used. Graham instead slips to his death near the top of the path. There are only two harpies seen, capturing Graham, Cruleena and Minotta, the text is changed to represent there only being two. Not everything has theme music The blue henchman magically disappears upon being tripped. The Cobra Dragons look more like 'dragons' (the same artwork shared Mordack's form at the end of the game), likely to save memory. The rattlesnake is a cobra (sharing the artwork with Manannan's form at the end of the game), likely to save memory. Mordack's way of killing Graham differs from that in the original game. He shocks graham and turns him into a charred body (sharing the same graphic as being burned by the dragon statues), rather than choking/suffocating Graham. This is probably due to memory limits. .The game references the King's Quest Companion, stating that Cedric was turned to stone by Mordack's spell (in the original the form of curse is not described, althrough Graham thinks he may have been killed), this is again likely due to censorship. THe bear swats graham with both arms ('bear hug' style) and drags Graham away off screen by his arm (this is actually a bit more gruesome than in the PC version!). The desert temple doors slide open into the sides of the temple There are two doors, they appear to be metal doors (in the PC verison there is a stone door that magically disappears, and then reappears). The bones of the wanderer also has a skull of a shores or cow near it as well. InterAction announcement King's Quest V comes to Nintendo Konami, a leading publisher of video game cartridges, has managed to fit the epic King's Quest V on a cart for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The new cartridge offers all the puzzles and challenges of the original Sierra game, matched with new 8-bit art designed especially for Nintendo machines. It's the first Sierra video game since 1983 when the company stopped producing cartridges to concentrate on computer games. The new game sells for around $50 in software and toy stores. See also *King's Quest V Instruction Booklet (NES) *King's Quest V Nintendo Power Review Behind the scenes King's Quest V for the NES was designed by Novotrade a company better known for its Ecco the Dolphin games on Sega systems. It was only published by Konami. Category:Games Category:Original Canon Category:KQ5NES